Healing
by onelegacy
Summary: Story about adjusting to life after Hogwarts. Appearances from most major characters. HP/HG Language, Adult situations, etc
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters and am not making any money off this. Don't sue me please.**

"Come on Harry, we're going to be late."

Harry, lying comfortably on the leather sofa in his flat, was broken from his thoughts by the subtly sweet but bossy voice of his best friend Hermione. He reached for the remote to turn the telly off and realized he couldn't even remember what he had been watching. Stretching into a yawn he looked at her as she walked in from the small kitchen adjoined to the living room he was in. She had straightened her hair to get rid of the fizziness; her shoulder length brown hair had natural light blonde strands that almost blended in. She had a long sleeve white fleece pullover that curved with her body and a worn pair of dark jeans that stretched to cover her backside.

Oops, he realized that his eyes were definitely focused on a non-friend zone and quickly recovered from a tiny surge of heat to his face to meet her gaze. If she had noticed she didn't show it as she closed the distance between them.

"I'm serious you really need to get up and your feet are on the couch" she chided grabbing the remote from him and placing it on the table in front of the couch.

"I'm getting up I swear," He remembered the second part of her statement "and I have socks on, really Hermione?"

She rolled her eyes but let it go and put her hands on her hips. From Harry's stretched out view point he suddenly felt uncomfortable at how close her hips were to him and even though he tried to push the natural male thoughts to the back of his mind he couldn't seem to. He quickly sat up and then headed to his room's door beside the telly. He opened it and went straight to his closet. He took a black hoody to throw over his Bulgarian quidditch shirt that Krum had given him the last time they had worked out together which really had amounted to chasing the snitch over and over again.

He grabbed his bag that Hermione had checked earlier to make sure he didn't forget anything from the bed and headed back out of his room. Naturally he really didn't want to go to the get together Hermione orchestrated in which a couple of his good friends from his Hogwarts days decided to meet up in a tourist town on the southern border of France and Switzerland called Divonne. He told himself he always felt that way though, and usually he ended up enjoying the company in at least some form or fashion when he got there, but this was a whole weekend.

He was surprised that Hermione would want to go too now that he thought about it. It had been a year since Ron had been transferred to a different station of aurors in London and had broken it off with Hermoine. Harry remembered how crushed she looked when she had knocked on his door in the late evening.

"Whats wrong?" he asked instantly drawing his wand and looking around

"Ron is leaving" she sobbed and he pulled her inside and shut the door.

"I know he told me earlier today, what happened?"

"He isn't just leaving here, he's leaving me behind too! He broke up with me for no fucking reason!"

That's probably the last time I will hear that word come from her mouth he had thought.

"I…I don't have anywhere to stay" she said in a mix of continuing sadness and shock mixed with embarrassment.

Before she could even ask he had told her that she was staying with him until things got settled. He had told her to take his room until he could clean out the other room that sat right beside it off from the living room. His apartment wasn't big by any means only having a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms; but it was definitely nice. He had learned that his couch was comfy and that he had way to much stuff in his spare room during those few days he was stuck from his room.

She had taken it really hard the first couple of weeks and it had hurt him to see her so down. Harry wasn't too thrilled about Ron leaving either, but they had never really talked about it more than the minute long conversation in which Ron said he was getting promoted to captain at the vacant spot in London and Harry had wished him well. Of course Harry had just assumed that Hermione would be going with Ron and didn't expect them to break up. She had never left yet a year later and Harry wasn't one to complain. She always remembered things he would forget when they went grocery shopping and Harry was never late for work as an auror because Hermione had gotten a job at a muggle bookstore that had her working similar hours and she would always knock on his door if he wasn't up.

"Ready to go?" Harry said as he shut his door.

"Of course, I already made the portkey outta my scrunchie ages ago, now let's go we are going to be late." Hermione huffed.

"Relax this isn't class you are missing" he retorted.

"Prat" She said while lightly punching him. "Now touch this before I leave you behind."

"Yea, yea whatever" he reached into her hand and with that they were off.

**A/N: Short introduction to the story. Next chapter up soon hope you enjoy. **


	2. The Bar

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and get nothing. **

They arrived at their destination to an overcast misty day. Hermione had set the portkey for just outside the town center and they arrived in between Ferney Voltaire and where they were supposed to be in Divonne giving them a peaceful walk. Harry wondered why she all but rushed him out of his apartment earlier but had decided to arrive giving them a longer than necessary walk. Then again, he was pretty sure seeing a certain redhead had something to do with it. It suddenly hit him that he might be seeing a certain redhead. Why it took him this long to realize that was puzzling to him; although maybe he had already thought about it and dismissed it as being no big deal, or maybe the gravity of it happening in the immediate future was the cause of his sudden nervousness.

Either way, he now understood the walk completely and even held back his taunt about how easy it was to rent a car. It had to be a lot harder for her though, because while Ginny had been mind-blowing when it came to the physical part of their relationship, she was just too active for his lifestyle. She always wanted to go to the club or a party, or go to dinner, or visit friends, it was always something. It was overwhelming and he felt like he had neither free time nor enjoyment out of most of the activities she constantly wanted to do. It reminded him of the overload of stuff he had come to loathe during the later years of school. He could do one or two of those things a week, not a day. He would rather spend a lazy Sunday watching quidditch on the wizard satellite service George and Arthur Weasley had collaborated to create and sell at the joke shop. It had done so well that George had opened up a separate store (although sometimes Harry would settle for football on regular programming). At first, Ginny used to cuddle up with him and watch too before she got bored of it. He exhaled slowly. _I really miss that._ They both realized the difference though and split amicably a couple months after the war had ended about two years ago.

It wasn't if he hadn't seen her since then, but it definitely had been awhile. He looked over at Hermione to find her obviously deep in thought. Not wanting to break her thought process he decided to keep the silence, but when he looked at her again, he couldn't help but notice how amazing she looked. _Maybe if things would have been different._

Her hair had lost some of its straightness due to the weather, but it still had that adorable way of falling down her back that was Hermione. Just watching her sent a jolt of warmth and happiness through his body. She could probably use the boost in self-confidence right now anyways he thought.

"Hey Hermione"

"Yea"

"You look lovely today"

He realized that he felt a little embarrassed because he really meant it, and he never complimented her outside of her knowledge. _It's not my fault I haven't noticed her until now. The only other time it was ever even mentioned is when Rita wrote that article in 4__th__ year which we both had dismissed as nothing._

"Thanks" She smiled and leaned in a little closer to him closing the foot or so gap between them. She tried unsuccessfully to fix his hair with her hand then licked her thumb and was able to settle some of the curls down. _Is she flirting with me? No she's being a friend, relax._

Harry suddenly realized that his body certainly didn't believe that. It was still reeling from the touch and really wanted him to kiss her, wrap his arms around her and hold her tight, and then ravish her at the hotel. He desperately wanted to, but instead stepped back and nudged a rock at his feet while they entered the quaint town.

They passed the fountain welcoming visitors to the town. A slight breeze picked up and carried some of the water shooting up into the air onto the roundabout and sidewalk that bled together. Hermione playfully nudged Harry the short distance into the path of the light mist.

"Was that really necessary Moine'? It's bloody cold now." Harry said with an annoyed tone but a smile that gave away his mood.

"What are you talking about?" she said with a dorky giggle at the end.

Harry was about to respond when he saw the bar that Hermione told him they were meeting everybody was to his left only a couple steps ahead.

"Is that it?" he asked

Hermione unconsciously hesitated for a second and bit her lower lip before nodding. Harry wanted to reassure her again or at least make her smile but he opened the door for her instead and they both went inside to a crowded bar. _Great idea to come during the tourist season. Why couldn't we just go to Diagon Alley or something…_

"Oi Harry over here" Harry snapped out of his brooding to see Neville sitting at a circular table in the corner of the bar with Ginny and a couple pints and glasses of wine.

"Hey Nev, How you doing?"

"I'm good Harry, how are you?"

Harry hated these kinds of questions where a simple "good" would be assumed to mean he was holding something in and he really didn't want to share more about his life than "good". It wasn't really good anyways; I mean it's hard when you are staring at a cute redhead you had loved when you were younger. _Just one more failure of mine._

Luckily before Harry had to answer Neville, and when he got around to it, awkwardly start a conversation with Ginny, Hermione appeared at his side.

"Hermione!" Neville and Ginny said at the same time.

Hermione had barely gotten "Hi" out when the petit redhead had jumped from her seat and wrapped her into a tight hug then backed up a little and swatted her on the arm.

"Why haven't you written or floo'd the Burrow? Both of you."

"Umm…We've just been busy, you know how things are." Hermione lied for both of them.

"We'll just have to catch up now then" She said practically bubbling with energy.

"Definitely" Hermione stated. She discreetly bumped Harry with her foot and he realized he was supposed to say something.

"I know it's been a while. How have you been Ginny?" _Oops_ "and Neville?' _Damn it 30 seconds in and I can't even ask a normal question without staring at Ginny_.

They both had been doing alright and were already a couple of stories in when Dean and Ron and Lavender holding hands came walking in from outside.

Harry could tell that Hermione had not been expecting that. He could also tell only by knowing her really well that she was pissed, like the time Harry had hid her copy of Hogwart's: A History before asking her a question about their previous school and then saying she was wrong, but worse, meaner.

Harry pretended he hadn't seen them yet and went to the bar to get drinks for Hermione and himself. "Un pression et une verre de vin blanc s'il vous plait." Harry impressed himself with his accent but was honestly gladder that he was prolonging dealing with what was bound to be bad situation. He dropped a 10 euro bill and walked back towards the group to see a surprisingly light conversation going on between everybody.

"Merlin I love how many euros are in a galleon" Harry interjected and got a warm agreement and pleasantries from everybody new.

Harry walked over and sat down next to Ron. "Chudley still in last place?" he said while slapping him on the back.

"We'll win the league next year." Ron smiled. Harry was somewhat surprised that Ron didn't have any Cannon apparel on now. He had a simple wool jacket and a grey polo. Lavender was really very pretty especially in the black mini skirt she had on. Harry saw Hermione looking at her with jealousy…_and a little bit of hurt? _ Harry hated seeing her like this it was like those first two weeks when Ron left her and she was miserable. The funny thing was that Harry would take Hermione over a girl like Lavender in a heartbeat. _Lavender is the one who should be jealous; Ron is a bloody dumb git. _

The evening seemed to fly and before they knew it last call had come and gone. Thankfully, everyone must have already said good night, but he couldn't remember. _I must be pretty tipsy_.

"You ready to go" Harry asked Hermione.

"I thought you'd never ask" She huffed and got up not even looking back to see if he was following her.

_Man she must be pissed; I don't think it was me._ Harry stumbled out of the booth and followed her outside and across the block to the hotel they had booked.


	3. The Hotel

Not a word was spoken between the two as they settled into the cozy room. Harry quickly kicked off his shoes to the side of the door. The room had a small closet immediately to the left, and a bathroom on the opposite side. He hung his hoody up in the closet and continued into the room. There was a dark wooden drawer which had a television sitting on top of it against the wall and a large bed taking up pretty much the rest of the space save for the glass door that lead to a small balcony with two plastic chairs and a small table. Hermione was sitting on one of the chairs with her legs crossed and a humongous scowl on her face.

Harry slid the glass door open and sat down next to her. Despite still being a little tipsy, the occasional gusts of wind were frigid. He instantly regretted taking his hoody off.

"Hey" Hermione turned out of her blank stare into nothingness and looked at Harry.

"What?" she snapped.

Harry paused for a second and spoke in a calm voice "You need to get whatever this is off your chest or we are going to be miserable this weekend."

She looked away defiantly for a second as if to dismiss it as nothing before her body gave into her emotions and tears were streaming from her big chestnut eyes.

"It still hurts" she managed to get out.

There aren't a lot of things that evoked reactions out of Harry anymore after all he had been through, especially with Sirius and his job, but seeing Hermione cry shattered his suave calculated persona. He would sprint into a brick wall if it would take her pain away.

"I know it does mione' he never deserved you."

"Now he's with that slut after he told me he didn't want a relationship. After everything we had been through. I hate him."

It felt like there was so much more to be said, especially since they never talked about Ron or relationships, yet no need. Harry wanted to wrap an arm around her or hug her but the armrests prevented the contact so he settled for taking her hand and rubbing up and down with as soothing a touch as he could manage. Another gust of wind shot through the balcony and Harry shivered a little. Hermione felt him shake. She got up and sat down in Harry's lap with her face buried in his neck and her legs angled out over his.

Everything happened so fast that Harry was too shocked to move momentarily. The fluffy white fleece pullover Hermione had on felt amazingly warm. He snapped into his senses and put his arms around her waist pulling her as close as possible as she sniffled into his chest. Neither moved or talked what seemed like forever as Hermione's sniffles began to fade into sleep. Harry reluctantly picked her up slid the door open and placed her lovingly on the bed. He went back to slide the glass door shut and realized that there wasn't anywhere to sleep. Surely she would have told him about having to share a bed. He grabbed one of the many pillows and was about to conjure a blanket when a voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry…last second…only room…don't sleep on the floor." She said and was asleep again before her head hit the pillow.

Harry smiled at how tired she was and unshrunk the travel bag that was in his pocket. He got his toothbrush and brushed his teeth and put some sweatpants on before pulling the covers back and climbing in bed making sure there was a spacious gap between them. He took a pillow and propped himself up and began to run through the plans for tomorrow in his head. They were going shopping with Ginny and Neville and then meeting up with everyone who had come to take the small hike up the mountain side that he could see out the glass door. _I don't even know who all is here. _

He remembered that Hermione had told him before they left that they were the Jura Mountains and when he had asked why they couldn't apparate, she had smacked him and told him it was "cheating".

Harry couldn't help but smile; honestly he had more fun when it was just them on an average day in his flat. Being an auror was usually a mundane job with an occasional stressful case or day. Whenever he came home though he would forget about whatever nagging complaint he had held in for the day and just look forward to relaxing and spending time with Hermione. On Monday's they went out for dinner as soon as they both got back from work. She almost always knew what he was feeling or thinking so he communicated with her better than any girl he had ever known, any person really, since it was impossible to hide anything from her.

_Home…_ Harry wasn't sure when his flat became home but he was pretty sure it had something to do with the adorable brunette next to him. _I wonder if she ever thinks about me like that._ He looked over at her and she was sweating bullets still having the fleece pullover on. _I feel hot too now that I think about it. _Harry got up and turned the thermostat down and disposed of his t-shirt. He walked over to Hermione and touched her arm. She just hogged more of the covers and moved away slightly. He touched her arm again and got a "Gumphh" in response.

"Mione it's too hot for you to sleep in that, you're burning up"

"Hmmm?" She mumbled.

"It's too hot for you to sleep in that"

She tried to get it off but only managed to get one arm out of its sleeve before giving up. Harry reached out and pulled bottom of the side the she had already removed her arm from up and over her head turning it inside out and pulling it off her other arm. She sighed contentedly and stretched back out to sleep if she wasn't still asleep. The flash of skin between her flimsy undershirt and her jeans when she stretched was almost too much for Harry. Her skin was somewhat tan but was amazingly smooth. She had what looked like pink knickers with white pokadots. Harry knew it wasn't the alcohol, something had changed and it was causing him to want Hermione so badly and not just physically. _This isn't the kind of thing that you wake up and are over._ _Shit…there's so many things that could go wrong. I'm just her friend right? She used to say that a lot._

Harry was knocked out of his internal debate by movement in the bed. Hermione had rolled over and pressed against him in the same spot she had been crying earlier except this time his upper ribcage felt a soft round bump from one of her breasts. Harry tried to move a couple inches but when he did she completed her roll and both her breasts were now smashed against him and her right leg was in-between his legs with one of her arms across his chest. _Well that didn't work. She seems to be sleeping well though, plus it's not like I'm complaining. _

When the air kicked on again for its second cycle Harry decided to just let it be and they could both use the excuse that it got cold if things got awkward in the morning. He leaned the 6 inches towards her forehead and put a gentle kiss good night there before laying back and falling asleep while savoring her contact.

A/N: No, Ron is not going to be a bad guy even though it may seem so now.


	4. Morning

A/n: I do not own any of these characters or any of this stuff. Thanks for not suing me. Sorry with finals and studying abroad next semester things are getting crazy.

Harry awoke in the morning to a smell he couldn't quite place; but it definitely smelled nice. It was something similar to roses and almonds if he had to guess, but more importantly it reminded him of good times and made him queasy. He was slowly coming back to reality when he finally remembered, and felt, the condition that he fell asleep last night in. Hermione was wrapped like a blanket around his upper body with her legs dangling in between his. Her face was still tucked into his shoulder and he could feel her deep breaths in and out. It was so comforting feeling her warmth, the way she was almost clinging to him as if she would never let go. _She looks so peaceful when she is asleep, and beautiful_. He began to study the cute shape of her face, the way it was tilted upwards towards his chin, if he just leaned down a tiny little bit he could wake her up with a soft good morning kiss. _ At some point I am going to have to tell her what she makes me feel. Even if it's awkward and she tells me I'm like a brother, it will still be worth it._

Harry had been postponing getting up for about an hour even though it was almost noon when he unconsciously began twirling the ends of Hermione's hair with his right hand. She shifted a little bit more into his side and sighed while a couple of strands of hair fell in his face momentarily. _That's_ _what smells so good. _

Hermione was probably not looking forward to today, there were a lot of things to do and most of them involved at least seeing Ron. She suddenly began to stir and let out a few unintelligible sounds. Harry removed his hand from her hair and tried to relax.

"Hey you" Harry said to a mildly awake Hermione.

"Hey yourself" Hermione said before realizing where she was and turning beet red. "Oh my God Harry I am so sorry I must've rolled over in the night!"

Before she could bolt out of the position Harry put an arm around her shoulder and gave it firm squeeze. "It's alright Mione' it was some of the best sleep I've ever had, I promise.

_Shit ummm , _Plus it was still a little cold with the air on all night." _This was easier when she was asleep._

Hermione seemed to enjoy the tables being turned and after a tiny hesitation shot back "Glad to be a glorified snuggy for the boy-who-lived, any other needs you want me to take care of?" deadpanning everything and biting her lip before leaning in and rubbing her hand over his abs drawing out the emphasis in needs.

Harry's heart was beating so fast he thought he might have a heart attack. If he didn't put an end to this soon he was going to have obvious physical side effects which would be insanely embarrassing.

_When did she get so good at that? When has she ever__,__ ever, even learned that? What would Sirius do?_ _What would Sirius do?_

"Well while you're down there" Harry deadpanned giving himself a mental high-five before he even got "while" out of his mouth knowing it was checkmate.

"Prat" Hermoine said laughing turning her hand into a fist and giving a playful jab to his ribcage before getting up and heading into the bathroom and turning the shower on.

Hermione was still shaken after she shut the bathroom door behind her. Her face was still flushed but it was fading. She was so turned on before if Harry hadn't broken the tension she had unintentionally created she might have climbed on top of him.

If she hadn't pretended to be asleep the whole time he was diddling with her hair she might not have had this problem. She could literally feel the love in his hands. It was pure bliss waking up like that; the catchiest riff in a song, the best tasting food that chefs could make, getting perfect grades, if she could put all those things into one burst of energy she was pretty sure it would feel at least close to what she felt.

_I'm so head over heels for him, I have to get myself under control before I lose his friendship._

Ever since she was a little girl when she first found out she was a witch she felt a connection to Harry Potter like every other young witch. She had read the stories, learned about how Harry should have died and how his parents did. She just wanted him to have people who loved him around.

"Hermione hurry up now let's not wander" Emma Granger stated to her giddy pre-teen daughter making her first trip into Diagon Alley. She knew her daughter had been waiting to make this trip forever now. She had been saving every bit of her allowance money planning on making at least one magical purchase for herself. She had been doing so much window shopping that her mother finally had to put her foot down so they could at least get to Gringott's and exchange some money for her supplies and whatever Hermione ended up getting.

They had just finished with the goblin who exchanged their money and were headed out the exit with Hermione's shiny galleon when they saw a picture of Harry's parents and a coin box next to the auror at the exit.

_Memorial Education Fund_

_Sponsored by The Aurors_

Emma watched as her daughter placed her only galleon in the box. The auror nodded at her as she took her daughters hand on the way out.

"Come on mommy let's go" Hermione said still giddy with excitement.

Hermione splashed some cold water onto her face again. She didn't even know she could flirt like that. It was supposed to be a joke. She would never do it to anyone but Harry. Looking up into the mirror she became a little self conscious and turned back away to adjust the shower water just a little hotter one more time before hoping in.

Harry was still lying with his back on the bed staring at the ceiling. He had somewhat recovered from their incident and was just day dreaming of everything Hermione. He couldn't remember when it first started but it was a hobby of his now. If he could just find a way to get out of this place and get back in time to watch quidditch on Sunday afternoon and then work out with Krum later in the day he would consider this weekend a huge success in relative terms. Anything done on Saturday would be a bonus, so he began to brainstorm possibilities.

A/n 2: not really done but I'm going to cut it off here and give yall something to at least read and me time to sleep. I like the plot I have planed to finish this chapter off and should have it up tomorrow or maybe a little later. I will be done with school for a while so look for more regular updates. Cheers…


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